He has achieved success who has lived well,
laughed often and loved much;
who has gained the respect of intelligent men
and the love of little children;
who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
who has left the world better than he found it,
whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty
or failed to express it;
who has always looked for the best in others
and given them the best he had;
whose life was an inspiration;
whose memory a benediction.

Bessie A Stanley

 

There are a number of versions of this poem, another attributed to Emerson, was read at my grandfather’s funeral and this one, at my father-in-law’s memorial service last weekend in Cape Canaveral.  I think it beautifully sums up what it means to have lived a great life.  And that there are many ways to do so.

Edward Dickinson’s Memorial Service was on on a warm but breezy Florida Spring morning at the very new Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, an impressive, expansive, but peaceful place where many a hero now, and in the years to come, will be laid to rest.  Ed served in the Air Force for 6 years before dedicating his life to teaching and it was this service that lead to the honor of being at the Cemetery.  A gathering of about 40 friends and family under a shelter here, with Ed’s favorite hymns being played before and after the service, made for a perfectly lovely and intimate final goodbye.  It was great that his four grandsons, Rory, Ben, Luke and Finn were able to be there along with many other family members and close friends.   Steve delivered his heartfelt eulogy and we also witnessed the Flag Ceremony and the playing of Taps.  Those currently serving and the veterans in the group were all invited to give a final salute.  Beautiful.

In the eulogy Steve remembered the day 33 years ago when Ed woke him up to tell him that his own father had died and “expressed his loss by saying that his father’s death was the end of a chapter in a greater book that was his life”.  Wise and true words that give us all pause for thought as we contemplate our own chapters and how people weave in and out of them.

There are few more important things in life than friendship, in my opinion.  Longtime and lifetime ones are surely the best and some of life’s richest gifts.  Ed and Polly are fortunate to have enjoyed and nurtured plenty.  Many of their dear friends were present on this day, a testament to the strength of their friendships.  There’s something to be said for having a Memorial Service a few months after someone has passed because the raw grief has lessened and healing, acceptance and peace have begun to settle in so the Service can truly be a Celebration of Life.

Afterwards, we all got in our cars and headed to one of Ed’s favorite places, Fishlips, to eat drink and reminisce.  Everyone there had been a part of one or many chapters in Ed’s life story.  Shockingly, I opted not to take pictures of food, although it was a delicious buffet and it was delightful sitting overlooking the Port with cruise ships in the background.  Instead of pictures of food, I took ones of people, far more important on a day like this, and while doing so picked up little pieces of other people’s stories…

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While looking out at the cruise ships, I reminisced with Tony, Polly’s next door neighbor about how we had all been on the Disney one, four years ago to the day celebrating Polly’s 70th birthday.  He responded with his own memory of how he’d been spoilt forever by the Disney cruise experience as he had been on one with the Make a Wish Foundation years ago with his wife Priscilla and their son before he tragically passed away at a very young age.  Whilst few of us go through life unscathed, that’s something I don’t think most of us could even begin to imagine experiencing but here he was talking about that memory on a day off he’d taken to honor Ed and just a little while later was joking around with Steve about Football teams.  He and his wife delight in raising their sweet daughter Olivia and as a family they have shown incredible kindness to Ed and Polly.

Don and Lee sought me out to introduce themselves and to tell me how much Ed loved me.  I was very touched.  I was also in awe of their retirement lifestyle, they live in a penthouse condo in NYC but also love the great outdoors and take camping trips, apparently very basic ones.  What a fascinating contrast!  They tried retiring to Florida but missed all that the big city had to offer.  I could quite happily retire to NYC, but the camping part?  Not this girl…

Cliff and Ellen, newer friends who are neighbors recalled Ed’s love of singing and said he used to serenade them with renditions of “Roll me over in the Clover” when giving them a ride to the airport often at 3am when they were off on another of the many cruises they take all over the world.   Longtime friends were there too, folks like the Allens who have decades of history with the Dickinsons that included many a camping adventure as well as cross country trips.  Polly’s brother Marc, and his wife Alison were also present.  They are true adventure heros in my book, eschewing  corporate life way, way before normal retirement age, quitting their jobs and selling everything they had in order to live on a boat and travel on it wherever they could.  They’ve picked up jobs all over the place and a few years ago, traded the boat for an RV so that they now travel on land.  They’re off to volunteer at a park in Colorado this summer and when asked if they have had any regrets, the response is “not for a second”.

Do you detect a theme here?  Ed had a sense of adventure and was surrounded by like minded people.  Even his cancer diagnosis 15 years ago didn’t stop him and last summer, he drove across country then went on an Alaskan Cruise to celebrate his 80th birthday.  Just 2 months later he passed away.  Talk about living life to the fullest right until the end.  His absence on this day was sorely missed.  Many people remarked about how much he would have loved it.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing things that we would always do with Ed.  We had a gorgeous walk on the beach….

We enjoyed the pool…

And I once again cooked in Polly’s kitchen and served food on her platter.  Roasted Salmon, Cod with a garlic and citrus panko crust with roasted asparagus, a salad of field greens and strawberries, and baguette….

Sundays have always been started with brunch at Fishlips, especially when all the snowbird friends are down for the winter months.  This Sunday was no different.  We arrived right at 10:00 am and the early birds had already secured tables out on the deck.  Is there a more pleasant way to to have Sunday brunch than on a deck on a perfectly sunny day, looking over the water?  I think not.  To add to the experience, mimosas are included in the price of your dish but are limited to four per person, five if you ask nicely!   Great company, food and of course, the setting.

I’m grateful that weddings, funerals and other such occasions bring people and memories together.  They give you a reason to think. Especially at funerals where you can look back at a life as a whole story and you realize how much can happen to a person in a lifetime.  It also gives you a chance for some self reflection.  How’s the current chapter in your own life going?  Are you fully engrossed and captivated?  Are you suffering from writer’s block?  Is it time to turn the page and start a fresh one?  Of course, we can plan and come up with drafts about what our next chapter might look like but life can throw some surprises in our path.  However, that’s all part of the adventure, right?  Talking of which….what’s Polly, now a widow going to do in this new chapter of her life, one without her constant companion of over 5 decades?  Sit at home?  Oh no, no, no…. the adventure continues because she went and bought herself this van and she’s heading off on a cross country trip!  May this new chapter of your life be healing, rewarding and enriching, dear Polly.  Happy trails!

It’s tough to come back down from the high of Machu Picchu, however, we are now very happily situated in our beautiful villa in Urubamba.  It’s a gorgeous place and we are being taken care of by Margarita and her husband who live next door.  Apparently, whatever we need, they will take care of.  Breakfast, transportation, laundry, errands…we’re living the dream..for 5 nights!  Cherry, Heather and I had the “bright idea” of cooking “at home” for our first night.  So off we went in a taxi to what we thought would be a fairly conventional supermarket…not so much.  But I’m all up for a culinary adventure!  One and a half hours later and two real markets, a bakery, a wine shop and an epic Rotisserie Chicken hunt later, we were back at the villa with the makings of dinner.  Local Cheese as an appetizer, roasted chicken, Quinoa salad, Avocado, Tomato, Cucumber and Onion salad and….I’ll never live this down…blue corn.  It is soooo tough and the following morning we discovered that it is essentially pig feed.  Margarita’s reaction when she saw it was priceless.  We will likely laugh about this for years!

After a much needed good night’s sleep for almost everyone, we were treated to a lovely breakfast.

Having briefly seen the town of Ollataytambo when we caught the train there to Machu Picchu, we decided to head back there for the day.  Margarita sent for a van for us and we enjoyed a 30 minute drive to the little town that seems to have somehow kept its charm despite being the main kick-off place for either the train to Machu Picchu or the famous 4 day Inca Trail hike.  Some of us headed straight to the ruins that provide a steep backdrop to the town.  I must have had a moment of complete insanity as I chose to climb the steps.  When almost at the top, I looked back down and froze.  I am terrified of heights.  I told Lucas, Cherry, Lance and Chris to keep on going without me and then quietly sat and prepared myself for the descent down the uneven stone steps with only a very low wall.  It took me about 20 minutes to get back down, partly edging down on my butt.  Always good to do something that scares you occasionally, right?!  However, the views were spectacular.  The others saw snow capped mountains at the very top.

Once back down, we rejoined the rest of the group back at the main square.  They had explored the surrounding streets and had found a place for lunch which was essentially at someone’s home, and a centuries old Inca one at that!  We were able to go in the one room home which was fascinating.  Two beds, a little kitchen, the skulls of their ancestors displayed to watch over and protect them, and live guinea pigs living freely in one corner.  Just across the courtyard which they had made into a mini market, was a one room tiny restaurant, with guinea pig on the menu.  However, to order this Peruvian delicacy, you had to allow two hours.  We opted out of that choice having just met their supply and having limited time…  The menu offered was Soup of the day, followed by a choice of Chicken, Trout or Pork.  As we were a party of 10 we pretty much filled the room and were right by where they prepared the food, from scratch.  They literally had to run to the market for supplies so we watched them peeling the potatoes, filleting the fish, making the soup.  We watched all this while enjoying Pisco Sours and Beer.  Our soup was delicious, essentially Chicken Noodle which the added ingredients of cilantro, egg and lime juice.  Our main courses were simple but we agreed the experience had been the best thing.

 

We then headed back to the square and after buying a wall hanging for my hallway, we loaded up into the van and returned to our lovely villa.  Too full from our late lunch, we  snacked on cheese and wine this evening and just enjoyed the peaceful environment here, both on the terrace and by the fire in the sitting room.

We got up at 4 so that we could get a head start in the line for the bus to Machu Picchu and apparently several hundred other people had the same idea!  Thankfully there are plenty of buses and after an ever so slightly scary winding ascent up the mountain, we arrived at the site.  I’m not going to write much as the pictures speak for themselves.  Lucas and Chris were the brave souls who climbed Waynapicchu (where you have to sign in and OUT).  For the rest of us, it was a short but fairly arduous climb to the Gate Keeper’s House but the reward was spectacular.  My mother has recently admitted almost bursting into tears (it’s been top of her bucket list forever).  Funnily enough, none of us had done massive historical research and when we got there, we spontaneously found a spot to sit, view and quietly contemplate.   It’s magical, mystical and perhaps even life-changing.  It’s a perfect combination of natural beauty and man made ingenuity.

And some one shots of us….

Heading back to the Sacred Valley on the Vistadome train after a breathtaking day at this most magical place…we were treated to dancing and a fashion show!

 

And the best picture of the day, taken by Derek…

We were not disappointed to leave Cusco for a couple of reasons.  The first being that our bus journey would allow us to descend about six thousand feet, the second being that we were just 24 hours from visiting Machu Picchu!  The following photos were taken on the road and we could already tell that we were going to fall in love with the Sacred Valley.

After dropping off our luggage at our villa (more on that in a future post), we headed to the station with small backpacks for our overnight adventure to Machu Picchu.  We caught the Vistadome train to Aguas Calientes from Ollataytambo.  A 90 minute trip in a multi windowed train to maximize viewing the scenery, transitioning us to a whole new ecosystem, pretty much a tropical rain forest.

 

The weather was tropical upon our arrival at Aguas Calientes, a town apparently with a sole mission of accommodating visitors to Machu Picchu.  We checked into our hotel, went to buy our Machu Picchu bus tickets and then explored the markets amidst a complete downpour. Lesson of the day, don’t ever buy silver without Heather.  Cindy wanted to buy a silver spoon and Heather stepped right in, grabbing the vendor’s calculator and asking her how much she sells it by the gram.  A few minutes later, the price had been reduced by half.  We then enjoyed an early dinner of pizza, salad and Pisco Sours before retiring to bed early in anticipation of our 4am wake up call.

You know there’s something not quite right when I have no desire to drink wine or any other alcohol for that matter.  Cusco’s altitude has been tough to manage.  The very second I got off the plane, I thought I would fall I was so dizzy, as did Heather.  After checking in to the hotel, I took one picture of the church outside our hotel, ate lunch with our group then took to my bed for pretty much the rest of the day.  Not fun at all.   Lunch consisted of water, Coca tea, papaya juice, salad and chicken soup.

We are very fortunate to have a Physician in our party and Dr. Chris has done an excellent job of running around our rooms taking care of us over the last 48 hrs, generously dispensing medication and advice.  I know I’m not super fit but when you are out of breath after climbing 1 flight of stairs, it’s not good!  I’ve never felt anything quite like it in my life.

At 7am we were awoken by what sounded like gunfire right outside our room…. was a coup taking place?!  Were people being shot?  Funnily enough in the 5 different hotel rooms being occupied by our party, unbeknownst to each other, we all declared it being just like home.  At 7.42 it happened again!  Turns out, it was fireworks (in the morning?!) that preempted a religious parade/festival in the square.  It’s Sunday after all…

We had plans to do a tour for the morning so we got in our private van and headed up the hill.  Aaagh, to a higher altitude.  Our first stop was to the archeological sight of Saqsayhuaman, that everyone likes to joke about it sounding like “sexy woman”, a beautiful sight that afforded us a stunning view of Cusco but also required us to chew on Coca leaves due to more altitude issues and my poor mother really felt it and had to keep sitting down.  Our British stoicism has been no match for the altitude.

So, in full disclosure, this blog is never going to be a history lesson.  I’m the type of person whose eyes glaze over when things get too historically detailed.  I may even bring in a guest blogger, Lucas, to add that dimension to the chronicling of this adventure.  However, our guide did a good job of pointing out interesting details and when I wasn’t too busy marveling at the cloud formations, mountains and amazing views of Cusco, I did pick up some fascinating facts.

At the site entrance, then a picture of Cindy finding out the hard way that alpacas spit when you get too close!  The last picture is of a map showing that the city of Cusco was laid out originally in the shape of a puma:

Exploring the site:

In the bottom two left photos, can you spot the layout of the stones in the shape of a llama and a guinea pig?

At the top!  Our view over Cusco…(it was Derek’s turn to take a rest)

 

Our next stop was an Alpaca factory/store where we learnt about the different types of wool.  I was too busy trying things on to take pictures and they were successful in their attempts to help me part ways with my money.  Enough said….except to say that my new Baby Alpaca poncho is quite lovely.

Our last stop was to another site, Q’uepa.  The one part of it that really stuck out for me was seeing the sacrificial altar where the Incans sacrificed llamas and virgins between the ages of 4 and 12, to help prevent “calamities”.

Back down in Cusco, we split up for lunch.  Whenever I’m planning a trip, the first thing I usually research is where I’m going to eat!  As I finally had a bit of an appetite we went to Morena Peruvian Kitchen and it did not disappoint.  A lovely fresh minimalist decor punctuated by vibrantly colored cushions and delicious Peruvian food served with a contemporary flair.  We enjoyed Ceviche, Nikkei kebabs, Fried shrimp Causa, Trout with Quinoa and Pork Belly with fried Rice.  We couldn’t resist dessert sharing fried banana fritters with honey caramel sauce and ice cream.

After this lovely lunch, which we declared very reasonably priced only to quickly remind ourselves that we had lemongrass lemonade instead of alcohol, we headed out to wander.  The sunny hot day had disappeared and rain had set in only to be interrupted by sunny spells again, particularly towards sunset.  We visited various shops and every time we came out of one the square looked different.  It was so beautiful!

Whilst browsing the shops, I channeled my late grandmother Apple and picked out a “statement” ring as my birthday present from my mother.  Apple would have got a kick out of that as she typically did the same thing on her travels around the world.

Dinner took us to La Manka and unfortunately our too brisk walk there rendered me nauseous and breathless once again.  Dr. Chris to the rescue again!  A pill for that was produced and I was able to eat a quinoa salad despite wanting something more than that.  I was a bit too out of it to take pictures but simply have to include some of the entertainment including Lucas joining in the dancing as well as Dr. Chris having a well earned local cocktail and DJ celebrating Rajun Cajun being named as one of the top new restaurants in Virginia!

Walk back to the hotel after a busy day!

First day in Lima after a less than satisfying night of sleep but, hey, I woke up in Peru!  Daylight allowed us to truly appreciate the wonder of Second Home Peru which I will feature heavily in today’s post.  We are staying in the Inn which is also the home of Victor Delfin, the Artist.  His daughter, Lilian, gave us a tour of his gallery and studio which was an amazing experience and he was busily working away there while we toured.  Eighty-eight years old and still waking up every day and living his passion and dream.

Our group split up for the day after breakfast and the tour and our half headed to the Museo de Pedro Osama, a former family summer home that now houses an amazing collection of religious art with a fascinating history.  We also meandered through Barranco, stopped for lunch and shopped at Las Pallas….

Our day ended with drinks on the patio followed by dinner all together at Isolina, just 2 blocks away, upstairs by open terrace doors overlooking the busy street.  Starting off with our first round of Pisco Sours, we then enjoyed local delights such as the famous Juicy brain omelet, Stuffed Potato, incredible Ceviche, Beef kidneys, short ribs…amongst other things!  Quite the culinary adventure and a great end to our first full day.